HIGH SIERRAS TO THE PACIFIC

Welcome to Chateau Hutter for another travel adventure. Let us see where our journey will take us. The High Sierras are located in Eastern California. Here is located Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the United States, some 14,500 ft high. Sequoia and the Kings Canyon National Parks are nearby. It is 180 mi due west to Monterey on the Pacific. Mount Whitney dominates the High Sierras, and the magnificent Sequoias dominate the thousands of trees in the huge forests which cover the slopes of this awe-inspiring mountain range. Driving northward from Los Angeles, we pass through the relatively level country around Bakersfield. But as we continue northward, we begin to climb up into the foothills of the High Sierras. From Visalia, we follow the course of the Kaweah River toward its source, and then we begin to climb more rapidly with one hairpin turn and switchback after another until we find ourselves in rapidly moving clouds. Soon we climb through them and come out upon a scene of startling beauty. We are now a mile above sea level, but it seems much higher for the clouds are below us. It is about the 1st of March, and while it is warm in the valley below, and flowers, fruits, and vegetables are growing luxuriantly, it is beginning to get very cool as we approach the level where deep snow has been on the ground all winter. After enjoying this wonderful vista, we return to our car and continue up to 6,500 ft where we enter the Giant Forest. The snow is heavy, but most of the roads are cleared so we can enjoy this amazing panorama of giant trees which passes before us. We don't feel isolated for there are about as many people enjoying a holiday in this unusual setting as there are giant trees. If one is hungry, thirsty, or chilly, a comfortable lodge is available for the comfort of the visitor. We have been to Sequoia several times in the summer, but this is our first visit during the winter. The winter snows set off the enormous trees in much sharper relief than the greens of summer. The sky seem to be a much more intense blue, and the clouds seem more white and dazzling than the clean snow in the woods. Most of the people we meet are native Californians who come up here frequently. Not only to feast their eyes on this beauty, but to have a picnic out of doors and enjoy winter sports. We are in the the center of Sequoia National Park, which was established by Congress in 1890 to protect these great trees. The park bears the same name as the giant trees, namely Sequoia, named in honor of the Cherokee chief Sequoyah, who invented the alphabet of that tribe. The Sequoia is a conifer or evergreen and has two species, the redwood and the big tree. Both are native of California. The ordinary redwood grows along the Pacific just so far inland as the sea fogs can go to give them essential moisture. The giant Sequoia is much more rare. It is found only in 10 small groves forming an uninterrupted uh belt extending for 200 mi on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and nowhere else in the world. It grows at elevations of 4,000 to 7,000 ft. This lower limitation may have been the result of destruction by glacial action many centuries ago. These trees are the most massive of any in the world, but are not the tallest, being surpassed by the eucalyptus trees of Australia. They are practically exempt from disease, and if they were not injured by fire or man, they would have an almost endless life. The General Sherman tree in this group at the Giant Forest is the oldest and largest living thing, being 272 and 4/10 ft high and 36 and 5/10 ft in diameter. There are over 32 distinct groves within the park, but most of them can be reached only after arduous hours on the foot trail. Everything is on such a grand scale that it is hard to realize that these trees are as tall as a 27-story building. The air is as crisp as an air-conditioned room, and the altitude makes one puff and pant for a while 6,500 ft is not very high, it seems high when one makes the transition from sea level in the space of a few hours. In a very short time, we drop down into the warm San Joaquin Valley and drive through a grove of cypress trees on our way to Monterey on the Pacific. It is a fascinating experience to pass from midwinter to midsummer in less than a day's drive. We are motoring along the north end of what is known as the 17-Mile Drive. It certainly is a beautiful setting, and we can agree with Robert Louis Stevenson, who once described this area as the finest meeting place of land and water in existence. These cypress trees we are passing through are the Monterey cypress, a species widely distributed in past geological time, but now native only to the Monterey coast. Naturally, their picturesque shape makes them a favorite subject for artists. Here is located the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, which has been the scene of many national championship matches. We are now near Point Joe, which juts out into a part of the Pacific called the Restless Sea because a meeting of ocean currents off this point causes unusually rough water. On dark stormy nights, mariners have sometimes mistaken it for the entrance to Monterey Bay, and it has been the scene of numerous disastrous shipwrecks from the days of the sailing ship to the present time. Monterey Bay was first discovered in 1542 by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and named by Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602, 18 years before the Pilgrim Fathers landed. Monterey is a very picturesque and interesting old city. Its harbor reminds us of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Everywhere we see picturesque fishing boats for Monterey is the largest sardine packing center in the world. Many other tasty denizens of the deep are taken daily in the waters of the Pacific by the fleet which has its headquarters in Monterey. In the early days, many whales were in this vicinity. Monterey has been the capital of California uh under both Spanish and Mexican rule. Since 1846, it has been part of the United States, and in 1849, the California Constitutional Convention was held here. Most visitors to Monterey usually end up at Fisherman's Wharf, where many types of fish are displayed for sale. These look so tempting that very few pass up the opportunity to enjoy delectable seafood at world-famous restaurants located on the wharf. The ocean plays a very important part in the lives of the people who live here. In early times, it provided the only highway from the old world to this fascinating new one. It moderates the climate making this California coast delightful year round. It has brought thousands of tourists, many of whom have bought homes to become permanent residents. It provides a haven for hundreds of seals which make their home on the islands offshore. These spend a good part of their time lying on the rocks and sunning themselves. They share many of these rocks with cormorants, gulls, and pelicans, who nest and feed in these turbulent waters, which provide protection from all of their enemies except man. And the federal and state laws protect them from him. Point Lobos is a state park and will always remain protected so that everyone can enjoy this remarkable natural outdoor museum where many plants and animal species exist in a remarkable relationship to their environment and to each other. This skeleton is all that remains of the huge whales that once roamed the Pacific coast in abundance. Nearby is a cottage where the whalers lived when they used to haul in and cut up their whales in this picturesque uh sheltered part of Carmel Bay called Carmelo Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve State Park is only 3 mi from uh Carmel, center of a well-known artist colony and resort area. There are many interesting trails which meander around this reserve which contains 354 acres. This headland is very rugged and many ships have been torn apart by the rocky cliffs which uh jut out into the bay. Points of interest have names which recall the history, activity, and geography of the area, such as Viscaino Hill, Whalers Knoll, Cannery Point, Point Cypress, and Lobos Grove. Lobos is the Spanish name for wolf, after which the point is named. It is not likely that very many remain in this area. The panorama is a weird one. The roaring, pounding surf on the rocks below is awe-inspiring, but in a few hours we are glad to leave for more peaceful surroundings. And so we bring to a close another travel adventure.